Friday's race was both productive and historic for Dolan, who will be the fourth Villanova runner in the last 10 years to run in the final of the Mile at the indoor NCAA Championships. The national indoor meet has been held since 1965 and no Wildcats runner has ever recorded a faster time at the meet than Dolan's mark in Friday's race. He becomes the 43rd member of Villanova's exclusive sub-four minute mile club and the 17th runner in that group to be coached by Wildcats head coach Marcus O'Sullivan.
Before the history comes the immediate next step though, as Dolan will be in action on Saturday at 3 p.m. Eastern time for the national championship race. The race can be seen live on ESPN3 as part of live coverage of this week's NCAA meet.
The top four finishers in each semifinal heat and the next two fastest times advanced to Saturday's final. Dolan ran in the first heat and made sure he would not have to wait out the results of the second heat thanks to placing comfortably in the front four of his section. The heat went out at an honest pace from the start and Dolan stayed right in the thick of a tight pack to give himself a chance to make a move when it counted.
Dolan was officially in sixth place with 400 meters to go and had moved into position in fourth place at the start of the bell lap, but there was still a battle to be waged over the final 200 meters as the runners jockeyed for position in the top four. Dolan and Tom Dodd of Michigan passed an LSU runner during the final lap and just in the home straightaway created enough of a gap between themselves and the chase pack to leave no doubt about crossing the line in the top four.
Four of the 16 athletes who qualified for the semifinals of the Mile are in their first year of collegiate eligibility, but Dolan is the only one of the four who is advancing to the final. Friday's race was the third track competition of his collegiate career after he redshirted the 2020 indoor campaign. Dolan recorded a personal best time in the 1000 meters in his official collegiate debut against Army earlier this year and then earned his spot at the NCAA Championships with a then-personal best time of 4:01.57 on an oversized flat track at the Camel City Invitational last month.
The raw time of 4:01.57 was converted down to an equivalent time of 3:58.53 for NCAA qualifying purposes. Dolan was ranked 13th among the 16 accepted entries going into the championships and will now head into the final as the third-fastest qualifier coming out of Friday's heats.
Only four Villanova athletes have ever run 3:57.20 or faster in an indoor mile while still in college. Dolan joins indoor school record holder Don Paige (3:54.22), Sydney Maree (3:55.5) and Jordy Williamsz (3:56.84) on that exclusive list. The most recent Wildcats to qualify for the final of the Mile at the indoor NCAA Championships are Casey Comber in 2019, Williamsz in 2014 and Sam McEntee in 2012.
This is the fifth time in the last six years that Villanova has added a new member to its club of sub-four minute milers. Dolan, Comber and junior Charlie O'Donovan are all active team members who have achieved one of running's most distinctive feats.
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March 13, 2021 at 10:25AM
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Sean Dolan Goes Sub-Four, Advances to Final at NCAA Championships - Villanova University - Villanova University Official Athletic Site
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